StarChapter of the Month

The Building Owners and Managers Association of North Alabama’s (BOMA North Alabama) mission is to promote interaction between their members in their exchange of best practices to more efficiently service the entire commercial real estate industry within the North Alabama area, and to provide educational opportunities. We were able to connect with Kiley Henry of BOMA North Alabama’s board to see how they are able to accomplish this all the while giving all of their members a voice.

1. What was BOMA North Alabama’s strategy for engaging new members in the past year?

This year at BOMA we started using our members more to get more guests to attend our meetings. We offered a 15-month membership for the price of 12 as well as encouraging our member to sign up guests through StarChapter for our monthly meetings. We like to stay involved in the community and request donations to charities at each meeting. We also have our guest speakers sign books that are given to local elementary school libraries.

2. Tell us about a successful event/meeting you organized last year.

Every year we have a golf tournament to raise money for our group as well as for a local charity. It is important that we as a chapter show our support for nonprofits in our area. Each year the check averages around $5,000. We also do a scholarship for the local university in town. If there is a student that is looking at going into real estate, we encourage them to apply and then the winner of the scholarship is given $1,000 toward books and tuition for the following term. At our year end meeting we also ask that the membership bring large packs of toilet paper so that we can give it to a local charity.

3. The BOMA North Alabama network is extensive. Does the board get ideas on how to improve membership value from other chapters?

We listen to our members. Everyone has a voice as it is important to understand all aspects of building management and ownership. Everyone from the janitor to the CEO benefits from an organization being part of BOMA. Our guest speakers are chosen each month in such a way that they are valuable to any company. From our allied membership which includes pest control, HVAC and lawn care, all the way up to our companies that own the buildings in town. We keep an eye on how other chapters engage their members and try our best to set a great example.

4. Do you have any tips/advice to share with other board volunteers?

Being part of the BOMA board is an honor. We feel that it is a great opportunity to help other companies grow. Our year’s Experience Exchange Report (EER report) is a prime example of how we succeed. This is information is used by our mayor to help others understand the State of the City. We are able to show how the cost of living here in Huntsville differs from other cities around us. The most successful thing that we have done is the EER. It has been so well received that the mayor has used it as part of his recruiting efforts to bring companies to North Alabama.

5. What is in store for your members this year?

Our membership will have the opportunities to hear more speakers in our community. One of the most exciting changes that we have made is our quarterly Lunch and Learn sessions. These are for the selected staff of the Principal Members of our organization. This month will be about discussing fire codes with the safety coordinators at local businesses. We also have gatherings throughout the year with other business groups throughout the community.

6. How have been able to utilize StarChapter to run BOMA North Alabama and reach its goals?

We have used StarChapter to send out our meeting, charity and event notifications. Everything is so easy with StarChaper and the support makes it a great vehicle for our very busy membership. A couple of clicks and they can register for anything that we have going on. They can also quickly add a guest as well. We also use StarChapter to talk about our Spotlight Members of the month. Everyone in our group has a voice and StarChapter allows us to make that possible.

Would you like to share the success story of your chapter with other board volunteers? We'd love to feature you! Fill out this form to let us know.